Consultation on the Members' Interests Bill
The Standards, Procedures and Public Appointments Committee of the Scottish Parliament is responsible for setting standards of behaviour for MSPs.
The Committee has completed a consultation on a potential Committee Bill to amend the Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament Act 2006.
Responses recieved
Following the consultation the Committee has agreed not to make any changes to the existing criminal offences for failure to register or declare financial interests. The proposed bill will therefore seek to:
- expand the Parliamentary sanctions available to the Parliament for breaches of the members’ interests requirements, including for paid advocacy;
- extend the scope of the criminal offence of paid advocacy; and
- improve the transparency and accessibility of information on MSPs’ significant financial interests by requiring certain political activities, currently reported to the Electoral Commission, to be registered with the Scottish Parliament.
The Committee wrote to all MSPs in January 2014 to inform them of their policy intentions and to invite comments—
The Committee wrote to the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland asking whether there would be additional costs arising from the proposals—
The Commissioner replied as follows—
The Committee then wrote to the Commissioner for further information—
The Commissioner replied as follows—
The Committee published its report on the Bill on 6 March 2015.
The Interests of Members of the Scottish Parliament (Amendment) Bill was introduced on 27 May 2015
On 24 September 2015 the Convener wrote to the Procurator Fiscal Service regarding referral to the Procurator Fiscal—
The Procurator Fiscal Service responded on 23 December 2015—
Report
The Committee published its report on the Bill on 6 March 2015.